Students challenged to look beyond others' disabilities

A group of Montevideo students try to trace the outline of a star, only by seeing the reflection it is casting on a mirrior, this excercise is supposed to demonstrate what someone with dyslexia experiences.ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Ability awareness stations

As part of Ability Awareness Week at Montevideo Elementary School, 10 stations were set up to illustrate challenges and to show what it's like to live with a physical or developmental disability.

Here is a breakdown:

Itchy, Scratchy and Swollen was about food allergies. Students learned about food allergies, their effects, and the importance of paying attention to symptoms and of alerting an adult if someone ate an allergen.

Incredible Adaptable Vehicles showed students what it's like to move in a wheelchair, use a hand cycle and a monoski.

Let's Play provided a discussion on the importance of including everyone when it's time to play and how someone with disabilities can be included and how people might feel if they're not included.

Just Another Day consisted of obstacle courses for the students to overcome. Afterward, they discussed how they adapted to achieve their goals.

What Can I Do? addressed various career opportunities for those with disabilities.

In Art, What I See with My Hands, students were blindfolded and an object was placed in their hands. They were then asked to draw the object based on how it felt.

What Do You Want? was like a game of charades, where one student was given a word and asked to describe it for others. The exercise taught the challenges that come with speech impairment.

In Star Trek, students were given a sheet of paper with a star and asked to trace it with a pencil by looking at its reflection in a mirror. The exercise showed what it's like to have dyslexia and visual perception issues.

Secret Weapon featured members from Canine Companions for Independence, which provides service dogs to those with disabilities. Kira, a 10-month-old Labrador retriever/golden retriever mix was on hand.

My Challenge, My Life featured Valencia Elementary School student Carina Sanchez, 12, who has cerebral palsy. Carina, a Lake Forest resident, uses a walker and braces to help her get around. She has learned to swim and she practices martial arts. She wanted to let the students know that she's just a kid like them and told them staring or laughing would make her and others with cerebral palsy uncomfortable.

MISSION VIEJO – Montevideo Elementary School third-grader Evan Hughey was given a simple task: Trace with his pencil a star drawn in black on a white sheet of paper.

But the instructions – to trace the star while looking at it in a mirror – stymied his efforts.

Staring at the mirror, Evan, 8, made pencil marks all over the sheet, across the star, away from it and all around it.

As time went on, he grew more exasperated, then gave up.

“It's hard,” he said, scribbling furiously over the star and letting out a groan.

The attempt was part of a series of challenging activities Evan and his peers experienced as part of Sharing Our Footsteps: Abilities Awareness Week at Montevideo, a school in Saddleback Valley Unified School District.

The activities, set up at a series of stations Oct. 31 to cap the week, were developed to give students an idea of what life is like for children with disabilities.

A number of Saddleback Valley Unified schools have put on similar programs in recent years, school board member Suzie Swartz said.

“I think it's crucial,” Swartz said. “I believe it helps the development of that important life skill of having empathy.”

The star challenge that troubled Evan was designed to create the experience of someone with visual coordination challenges or dyslexia.

Evan said the thought of someone having to navigate such challenges on a daily basis made him sad. He said the exercise taught him that different people face various challenges in life and that his goal is to make it easy on them, not to stare and not to make it harder.

Six years ago, Sollom and another parent with an autistic child decided to work to foster a more accepting environment for their children.

“I found that there's really a lack of understanding,” said Sollom, who is the chairwoman of the Abilities Awareness Week event. “Once they understand, they start accepting. Once people start accepting, they're able to include and find ways to include everyone who has special needs.”

A group of Montevideo students try to trace the outline of a star, only by seeing the reflection it is casting on a mirrior, this excercise is supposed to demonstrate what someone with dyslexia experiences. ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Mission Viejo resident Jennifer McGraw shows a group of Montevideo students how to properly use an EpiPen. ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
During Montevideo Elementary School's Ability Awareness Week, Karina Sanchez, 12, spoke to students about cerebral palsy and how she's overcomes certain challenges. ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Delaney Vincent, 8, left, and Keira Brennan, 8, left, participate in a communications activity where one is not allowed to speak and the other has to figure out what that person is talking about. They were being assisted by parent, Cheryl Gramza. ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A group of students learn what its like to have asthma by holding a small straw in their lips and trying to breathe in through it. ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Emiliy Polanco, 8, feels the texture of a tennis ball while wearing a blindfold during an excercise that requires students to draw the object they are feeling on a sheet of paper. ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Mission Viejo resident Phong Le competes in a friendly race with Jaiden Encisco, left, and Cassie Nicholson, right, while showing them how to move around using a wheelchair. ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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